No Delay in Transportation of Arrestee for Prayer

July 1, 2018 - Posted by Larry E. Holtz, Esq.

If an officer places a suspect under arrest and orders the suspect to enter a police vehicle for transportation to jail, does the suspect have a right to delay that trip by insisting on first engaging in prayer? Recently, in Sause v. Bauer, (US 6-28-18), the United States Supreme Court said no! Once placed under arrest, the suspect does not have a right to delay that trip by insisting on first engaging in prayer—“conduct that, at another time, would be protected by the First Amendment.”

“There can be no doubt,” said the Court, that “the First Amendment protects the right to pray. Prayer unquestionably constitutes the ‘exercise’ of religion. At the same time, there are clearly circumstances in which a police officer may lawfully prevent a person from praying at a particular time and place. For example, if an officer places a suspect under arrest and orders the suspect to enter a police vehicle for transportation to jail, the suspect does not have a right to delay that trip by insisting on first engaging in conduct that, at another time, would be protected by the First Amendment.” However, “[w]hen an officer’s order to stop praying is alleged to have occurred during the course of investigative conduct that implicates Fourth Amendment rights, the First and Fourth Amendment issues may be inextricable.”

Note: The Freedom of Religion clause set forth in the First Amendment clearly applies to the States through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296, 303-304 (1940) (As is true with Congress, state legislatures shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.).